The Power of Ideals 理想的力量 - 传薪教育

On the sheet of parchment, Jane Austen scribbled down intensively “Something must and will (happen to) throw a hero in her way.” A statement with power and determination. But the frowning face betrayed her worries. In a time when women were not supposed to be educated, let alone to be a writer, will the novel be truly regarded as a novel one day?

在一张羊皮纸上，简·奥斯汀精辟的写道“终有一天她也会成为英雄。”这声明掷地有声。但那紧皱着的眉头暴露了她的担忧。在一个女性不该接受教育，更不该成为作家的年代，这部小说有机会成为佳作吗？

Then came Marie Curie, with a reagent bottle in one hand, a textbook in the other. She spoke to her two daughters, “We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.” In a time when stereotypes of all kinds were placed upon women, her inspiring story has empowered many female talents to get rid of the limit on their career path, and has pushed forward the progress towards gender equality.

紧随其后的是玛丽·居里，她一手拿着试剂瓶，一手拿着教科书。她对她的两个女儿说道，“我们要坚信，我们一定在某方面有天赋。无论付出什么代价，都必须充分实现自己的价值。”在那个年代，女性遭遇着各种刻板印象。而居里夫人的励志故事让许多女性，摆脱了职业选择限制，推动了性别平等的进步。

In 1996, Ruth Bader Gindburg was reading aloud the opinion of the Supreme Court. This opinion does mark as presumptively invalid a law that denies to women the equal opportunity to inspire, participate and achieve in the society based on what they can do. Ginsburg's greatness was not only revealed in her own success as a justice in the Supreme Court, but her contribution to fighting against any exclusion of women at her time.

在1996年，鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格大声宣读最高法院决议，这标志着一项法律推定无效。这项法律剥夺了女性以个人能力为基础激励、实现、参与和贡献社会的平等机会。金斯伯格的伟大不仅体现在她作为一名女性大法官在最高法院的成就，还体现在她反对当时任何排斥女性的行为所做出的贡献。

Looking back, I saw far more women fighting for gender equality. I saw Mulan cutting off her waist length hair and disguised herself as a male warrior. Virginia Wolf was fighting for a room of her own. And I saw Emma Watson calling for the end of gender inequality in the United Nations.

回顾过去，我看到更多的女性在为性别平等挺身而出。花木兰曾剪掉了齐腰长发，女扮男装。弗吉妮娅·伍尔夫在曾奋力争取一间只属于她自己的房间。艾玛沃特森曾在联合国呼吁终止性别不平等。

It was these trailblazers from East and West, from past and now, that paved the way to the gender equality nowadays. In China, for example, over half of the graduates today are women, surpassing males for the first time. At Tokyo this year, women made up 49 percent of the Olympic competitors. But comparison, in the 1908 games, men outnumber women 53 to 1.

正是这些先驱者们，自东而西，从古至今，为女性地位的提供铺平了道路。例如，在中国，超过一半的研究生是女性。人数首次超过男性。在今年的东京奥运会上，女性参赛人数占49%。相比之下在1908年奥运会上，男性与女性的比例是53:1。

However, after generations of struggle, are we seeing the light at the end of the tunnel? Nowadays, single women in their thirties are leftover women, while men in their thirties are golden bachelors. Women make up half of the U.S. workforce, but the average working woman makes only 77 percent of what the average working man makes.

然而，经过几代人的奋斗，我们是否看到了隧道尽头的光明？当下，30多岁的单身女性被认为是“剩女”，然而30岁的男性却被认为是“黄金单身汉”。女性占据了美国劳动力的一半，但女性的平均收入仅为男性的77%。

And my grandmother has just called me this morning to instruct me the stage etiquette of being sweet and adorable. She did not know that over half of the national finalists are girls, and many of them have won the semi-finals by wearing black dark suits, but not the pink dresses, as she has said. And actually, today's contestants are very lucky, both girls and boys, because we won the judges votes because of our speeches, but not because of the clothes that we wear.

今早，我奶奶给我打电话，教我舞台礼仪，指导我要甜美可爱。她并不知道的是，超过一半的总决赛选手是女孩，其中有几个人在半决赛中穿着深蓝色的衣服并获胜，而不是穿着她口中的粉色裙子。今天的幸运选手，不管是男孩还是女孩赢得评委的而投票是因为我们的演讲，而不是华丽的服装。

The power of ideals have enabled women to be equal counterparts to men. And if you like to ask me whether we will achieve a complete gender equality in the future, I would definitely say “Yes.” I believe the whole world will treat both men and women equally, just in the way that the judges have done to the contestants in this speech competition.

理想的力量已使女性，成为与男性平等的伙伴。如果你问我，最终是否会实现完全意义的性别平等。我肯定会说“是的。”我相信全世界都会平等对待男女，就像评委老师对待今天所有的参赛选手一样。